COLLEGE STATION- Texas A&M moved its record to 3-0 for the fourth straight year, and 10th time in the last 11 years, with a 63-48 win over Stephen F. Austin in a women’s basketball game at Reed Arena.
The Aggies outscored the Ladyjacks (1-2) 41-29 in the second half, shooting 50.0% from the field after a 32.0% shooting performance in the first half. Texas A&M only led 22-19 at halftime before pulling away in the second half.
Danni Williams scored 20 points, marking her third straight 20+ point game, to lead three Texas A&M players in double figures. Khaalia Hillsman scored 14 points with 10 rebounds for her third straight double double. Jasmine Lumpkin matched her Texas A&M career-high with 14 points and had eight rebounds.
Anriel Howard had 15 rebounds to lead the Aggies. Curtyce Knox had seven assists, her third straight game with at least that many assists.
The Aggies return to action on Wednesday, November 23 at Little Rock. The Aggies return to Reed Arena on Saturday, November 26 to host Abilene Christian.
QUICKIE NOTES
·Texas A&M starts the season 3-0 for the fourth straight season and 10th time in the past 11 years
·Texas A&M is 3-0 at home this season and 45-7 at home since the start of the 2013-14 season.
·The Aggies are 136-4 against unranked teams at home since Feb. 2005 and have won 65 straight home games against mid-majors.
·Danni Williams scored 20+ points for the third straight game
- She had double-digit points for the third straight game and fourth time in her career
·Khaalia Hillsman picked up her third straight double double and the 5th double double of her career
- She scored in double figures for the 16th time in her career
- She had double-digit rebounds for the 10th time in her career
·Jasmine Lumpkin matched her Texas A&M career high with 14 points
- She scored in double digits for the second straight game and third time at Texas A&M.
·Anriel Howard had 10+ rebounds for the second straight game and seventh time in her career
·Texas A&M has won the last six games that Curtyce Knox has started
·The Aggies return to action on Wednesday, November 23 at Little Rock. The Aggies return to Reed Arena on Saturday, November 26 to host Abilene Christian.
QUICKIE QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH GARY BLAIR
Opening Statement…
“We’ve done a good job of preparing this team all year by trying to play one possession and one team and not looking ahead. We weren’t looking ahead. We were looking for Stephen F. Austin… We are trying to continue the offensive play that we had against Texas Tech, but when you start and have five turnovers in the first four minutes, there is no excuse. You had eight for the whole game last game. Stephen F. Austin had a good game plan to stop our 1-3-1 offense and we didn’t get much off of it. Danni [Williams] started off slow, but finished good, like good shooters can. If we would have been on the road, there is a good chance that we would have lost. Our crowd kept us in it. We had the better team. They probably had the better game plan and executed better than we did though. As coaches we have to go back to the drawing board and get prepared a little better. I was pleased with [Jasmine] Lumpkin. When you go 8-8 from the line and have five blocked shots, you do a pretty good job for the game. I was also pleased with how Danni [Williams] responded in the second half after what she shot in the first half. It wasn’t pretty, but we controlled the rebounding in the game and I think that was the difference in the game. Turnovers and missed free throws is why the game was close at halftime. ”
On inexperienced team and learning from games…
“I think it is going to take time. We know where we are talentwise. We can see it in practice everyday. We know what we have to do and get better, but we can’t get too high on a 3-0 start because they were all at home. We beat the top two teams in the Southland Conference. Sometimes you learn by losing, but I want to learn by film and not by losing. We are going to see better, taller, and quicker athletes as the year goes on. Thankfully we were at home and the crowd was with us. The disappointing thing is that we wanted to play our bench and play our freshman, but it isn’t their fault. We wanted to play those kids and get them some minutes in their.”
On halftime meeting…
“I told the team that we are human. We talked about ball handling and wanting the ball. We tried to simplify the offense. We were not doing a good job of attacking the zone. We were telling them and ourselves that it is not a time for excuses. It’s not a time for us coaches to put blame on the players and say maybe we didn’t do a good enough job of preparing. It happens in sports. The best thing is that we were able to win by fifteen points and go away on a happy note.”
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR FORWARD/GUARD JASMINE LUMPKIN
On stepping up for the team tonight…
“He just told me to be aggressive and look to drive the ball. I know my shots weren’t falling either, so I just found a way to get to the free throw line and knock down the easy shots. I just tried to stay aggressive and hustle to get the loose balls and rebounds.”
On her game play…
“Yeah I think I stayed within my game, just knowing if something’s not working that I can be aggressive and know that hustle plays I can play within myself if I’m just doing all the little things right.”
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE GUARD DANNI WILLIAMS
On her shooters mentality…
“This year I’ve really been focusing on that. Coach [Bob] Starkey especially helps tell me, ‘shooter’s mentality, shooter’s mentality’. You know, I was not shooting the ball well the first half and he just said ‘it’s a new half and these shots are going to fall’. I think I’ve done a pretty good job with thinking ‘next shot’ and just finding my next shot.”
On the slow start for the team…
“It’s true that [Stephen F. Austin] came out more aggressive and more energized than we did. We were just kind of on our heels. I don’t know if that was because we were tired or what, but they definitely came out more aggressive and more energized. They slapped us in the mouth, and we just kind of had to recover from that. We weren’t shooting the ball well, any of us really, and so we just had to rally together. Thankfully our defense [came together] and they had made some mistakes as well to keep us in the game the first half.”
On improvements in the second half…
“We just knew we had to be more aggressive if our shots weren’t falling. [Coach Gary Blair] told us to get to the basket and to the free throw line. We knew we couldn’t play around with this team just because we were tired. We had to start out early and be more aggressive than we were in the first half.”
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN HEAD COACH MARK KELLOGG
Opening Statement…
“You know, I am disappointed that we didn’t find a way in a close game. I thought we had a lots of opportunities, proud of our kids for our defensive effort. Hold [Texas A&M] to 63 points, I think, is something to be proud of. Forcing them into 23 turnovers, I think, is something also to be proud of. We didn’t get anything going offensively and didn’t have a lot of rhythm. That was probably the difference for us. Anyways, we just missed a lot of point blank layups, had some good looks at threes that normally we might make. Credit to [Texas A&M], their size was something to handle. I thought we did a pretty good job on [Danni] Williams for the most part, but then she got going a little bit late. They got us pretty good on the board, we knew we had a challenge there and that might have been a little bit of the difference too was just those second chance opportunities for them.”
On SFA’s three point shots…
“When we are open I think that we can make shots, so that is disappointing when we don’t. They have some length and some athleticism on us, but it’s not something that we haven’t necessarily seen before. We just played South Dakota that was 6′ 1” in about every guard position as well. It’s not uncommon to us, but they do speed you up a little bit more. I think that it was probably a little bit of both. You’ve some big bodies flying at you and we just didn’t make them pay.”
STEPHEN F. AUSTIN SENIOR GUARD TAYLOR ROSS
On SFA’s energetic first half ….
“I feel like we came out with a lot of energy. It’s just our shots weren’t falling. I mean, we were shooting shots that we normally shoot in practice and stuff, but it was just an awful first and second quarter. I mean, it was normal I guess, but we just weren’t hitting the shots that we normally make.”
On the start of the second half…
“Yeah, we definitely came out kind of sluggish. We were very energized the first half and we didn’t come out that second half with that same energy that we should have. I feel like if we would have come out with that same energy, we would have probably won if that was the case.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics